RAE’S READS

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This year (2025) finds me with 53 years of teaching “under my belt.” I have taught all levels from pre-K “(library lady” or “book lady”–volunteer) to juniors, seniors, and graduate students enrolled in my Advanced Writing class at the university where I have just completed 34 years. My first paying teaching job was junior high, and I spent 13 years with ages 12-13, the “difficult years.” I had some of the “funnest” experiences with this age group. When I was no longer the “young, fun teacher,” I taught in an elementary school setting before sixth graders went on to junior high, teaching language arts blocs, an assignment that was a “dream-fit” for me. After completing graduate school in my 40s, I went on to community college, then university teaching. This past fall I accepted a part-time teaching job at Apogee Gulf Coast Schools in its first year at the Alvin campus. After my Better Half died n 2022, I achieved a lifelong dream: opening a bookstore of my own, Rae’s Reads. A year later, I sold the house we had lived in for 47 years and moved into the bookstore. My goal is to circulate and repurpose books. Just as teaching is “in my blood,” so is a passion for reading, writing, libraries, and everything bookish. This blog will be open to anyone who loves books, promotes literacy and wants to “come out and play.”

  • UPDATE ON COLOR CODED CHALLENGE

    I’ve had some time for reading this past week and would like to explain how I’ve come along on this challenge.  At first the prospect was very daunting because as close as I could figure, I’d have to read nine books before December 31st of this year. I made such strides this week, however, that like The Little Engine…”I think I can!”

    I had just about finished King’s Wizard and Glass when I accepted this challenge that I counted it as the first book read with it falling into the “any other color listed” category with its pink cover. Monday or Tuesday, I read the rest of John Sanford’s Rules of Prey, a nineties publication with a green cover. I have read three chapters of Dr. Andrew Joseph Pegoda’s published dissertation, “If You Do Not Like the Past, Change it”: The Reel Civil Rights Revolution, Historical Memory, and the Making of Utopian Pasts, which sports the red cover of University of Houston where he is a Phd and a professor. He guest lectured for me in my Advanced Writing class last Wednesday and we were able to discuss what I had read this far. I am reading a new novel on my Kindle app and will probably count it as my brown cover, although I am reading on the side Barskins, a massive (over 700 pages) tome which I had originally selected for my brown cover. It will wait patiently on my TBR shelf while I complete the Color Coded Challenge. I am also currently reading Song of Susannah by Stephen King, enhanced by an intriguing blue cover.  So, to summarize, I have finished two, am currently reading three, and looking forward to the tricky job of finding a book which “implies a connection of color.” (for example, a book with rainbow or some art term in the title) Any thoughts or suggestions of books I could use for this category?

    This week promises to have some time I can dedicate to reading and especially to reading friends blogs and those of my Advanced Writing class. Those students have written a brief introduction (and my goodness, their definition of brief was brief) and will make their first posts this coming Wednesday.  Happy reading ahead for me.

  • WIZARD AND GLASS by Stephen King: A Review

    At the risk of repeating myself, allow me to give a little background on King’s “Dark Tower” series.  When the first book of the seven volume series, The Gunslinger, was published, it was an extraordinarily hot Texas summer.  My Better Half and I checked out the unabridged CD of King’s novel, our first foray into audio books.  As the over one hundred degree afternoons droned on, we listened to Roland’s (protagonist’s) story while letting the fan blow across us on the bed.  The reader’s voice did NOT drone on and on, and we were caught up in the exciting, action-packed narrative, filled with King’s exquisite imagination.

    The same reader read through Book III of the series, then died.  King said (in a newspaper account) he would never let anyone else read that particular series, so readers were committed to reading in print themselves the rest of the saga. Wizard and Glass was Book IV, and when I first attempted to read it, it seemed dull by comparison to the insane trip on Blaine the Train in Book III that I skipped Book VI and went on to Book V, The Wolves of Calla,which became, perhaps my favorite book in the whole series.  Since it was a detour from the quest/journey the ka-tet was on, there was no disconnect in the plot. I read The Song of Susanna, Book VI  next, another side-trip into Roland’s past, which revealed a darker side of both the gunslinger Susan and especially of Roland, the original gunslinger. It was perhaps the weakest book of the series, in my opinion, and certainly the goriest, grossest of all the books. Before reading Book VII, the end of the story, I realized there were gaps that I needed to fill in, so I returned to Book IV, which was all I lacked before reading the conclusion.

    Book VI, Wizard and Glass, is a fascinating look into young (14 years old) Roland’s past and his first assignment as a gunslinger, as well as his first love, Susan Delgado. Perhaps one of the strongest features of this novel is the character of Rhea of the Coos, and unforgettable witch/wizard woman who will haunt your dreams and give you night terrors.  King outdoes himself with this characters and her “mutie” familiars, so grotesque that they turn your stomach. What she does to Roland and to Susan is revenge and perverseness, pure and simple.  Again this book is action-packed, a beautiful story of young love and worthy adversaries to the trio of young gunslingers (Roland and his two best friends) are the Great Coffin Hunters, all working for the Crimson King, who will appear in future books. Perhaps this is one of my favorite things about King’s series (I also found this in The Stand, another of King’s masterpieces.) is how characters from other books turn up in more recent ones to continue to do their evil or to have evil acted upon them; for example, the priest, Callahan, from Salem’s Lot, is a major player in Wolves of the Calla (Book V).

    The strange, hypnotic globe in Book IV, the pink light emitting “8 Ball” of this book, is one of the thirteen globes that are encountered all through the series and has a definite effect/influence on the plot, the character development and the growth or devastation of the protagonists and antagonists in Book IV.

    Wizard and Globe is long, but when I came to the end and faced the other three volumes with the quartet (quintet if you count Oy) of gunslingers, I was energized and could hardly wait to continue the journey to save the Rose and defeat the power  of the Dark Tower and the Crimson King. I do recommend reading the series in order, but King, starring with Book IV, does give a chapter or so refreshing the reader’s memory on what came before.  If you do not want to commit to seven volumes (several being over 700 or more pages), Book IV, Wizard and Globe is a good place to jump in.  Even the terrorizing suicidal journey on Blaine the Train is repeated and even prolonged and fleshed out a bit. This novel is a stand alone masterpiece and a vital part of Stephen King’s Lifework, “The Dark Tower Series.”

  • Monday Funnies…

  • NOT-EVERY OTHER SUNDAY (EVENING) POST, BUT A BOOK CHALLENGE

    I have just embarked on my first real book challenge, one set by someone else other than myself.  It started much earlier, and as usual, I am late to the starting gate, which will make it even more challenging.  The target date to have it done by is Dec. 31, 2017, and it is a “Color Coded Challenge.” One can either choose a book whose cover is the color mentioned, or one whose title mentions the prescribed color. Here are the books required: blue/red/yellow/green/brown/black/white/one other color not mentioned, a book that “implies” color (like a rainbow etc.) and in order to even it out to ten books (by Dec.31st, remember), I am adding a book by an author of color. Do you think I can do it by Dec. 31st?  I have just finished since the last Every-Other-Sunday (Evening) Post, Wizard and Glass,by Stephen King, which had a pink cover, so I am counting it as “one other color not mentioned.” Also, I have just begun Barkskins by Annie Proulx which has a brown cover, but that is a very ambitious undertaking because the book has 713 pages. Oh well, Dewey’s Twenty-Four Marathon is coming up this month, so that should help. I plan to look  at my TBR shelf soon and choose my colors or titles according to this challenge.  It ought to be fun! If you want to join me, leave a comment in the section below and join in.

  • THURSDAY THOUGHTS

    This information came across my desk recently from the RIF (Reading Is Fundamental) organization, a cause which I believe in and support financially. The flyer deals with “America’s Literary Crisis,” and the statistics that appear are alarming.  Did you know that 65% of 4th graders in the US read below grade level? 34% of children entering school lack the basic language skills needed to learn how to read?  Only 37% of students who graduate from high school can read at or above proficiency levels? 43% of American adults are functionally illiterate? 93 million adults in the US read at or below the basic level needed to contribute successfully to society?

    As the Foundation points out, “If we don’t act now, children from disadvantaged communities will always be at risk and future generations will continue to be impacted.” This is why each of us needs to support children’s literacy. At RIF, people are committed to a literate America and give all children access to books.  RIF provides “new books for poor kids” as a sixth grader phrased it. It is a proven intervention program that supports at-risk children who may not have school libraries.

    Think seriously about contributing to this worthy, effective cause.  Send a check to:

    RIF  (Reading Is Fundamental)

    1730 Rhode Island Avenue, NW, 11th Floor

    Washington, D.C. 20036

    For more information, see WWW.RIF.ORG

     

     

  • Smorgasbord Laughter Academy – Heavens Above and the other one!

  • ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE: A Review

    Benjamin Alire Saenz, a Pen Faulkner award winner, has written a tender, sensitive, honest, beautiful YA novel in Aristotle and Dante. The main characters, both fifteen, “clicked” from their very first meeting and frequently made each other laugh for no reason.  Moments of anger and miscommunication came later, as did questions of identity and sexuality. Together they explore the purpose of one’s life and one’s reason for being.

    Ari is big and brawny, very handsome, although he is not aware of it and does not “feel handsome.” Dante is small and beautiful, delicate, and very sensitive. Ari closely guards his emotions where Dante expresses them freely.  Both boys are highly intelligent and can discuss everything from comics to “real literature.”

    The novel is “gorgeously written” and excels in drawing two complex but totally believable characters in the boys, and realistic, loving parents.  Saenz explores the themes of family, friendship, love, the Latino lifestyle, and teenage angst as he describes places and events that will keep the reader engaged.

    As the novel opens, we hear Ari speaking to himself:

    “The problem of my life was that it was someone else’s idea.” Everything that follows , everything that happens to him and what he does seems to be “someone else’s idea” until he meets Dante, and everything changes. The two boys seek out and at the end discover, together, The Secrets of the Universe.  I give this book a rating of ten out of ten, and recommend it to all ages who appreciate beautiful writing and a darned good story.

  • The top 25 grammatical terms you should know

    Thayer Literary Services's avatarBook Editing

    1. ACTIVE VOICE

    Active voice is a type of sentence or clause in which the subject performs or causes the action expressed by the verb. Contrast with Passive Voice below. Example: “A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.” (Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, 1991)

    2. ADJECTIVE

    An adjective is the part of speech (or word class) that modifies a noun or a pronoun. Example: “Send this pestilent, traitorous, cow-hearted, yeasty codpiece to the brig.” (Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, 2007)

    3. ADVERB

    An adverb is the part of speech that modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb. Example: “There I was, standing there in the church, and for the first time in my whole life I realized I totally and utterly loved one person.” (Charles to Carrie…

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  • Reviewing LILAC GIRLS by Martha Hall Kelly (published 2016)

    This debut novel is based on real events and real people.  It is set during WWII beginning with the invasion of Poland through the fall and liberation of France. It is not just another Holocaust story, but tells a broader tale. The author’s purpose seems to be to keep this period of women’s history alive as it explores several themes.

    Kelly weaves together the lives of three extraordinary women and includes a “doomed wartime romance,” an ambitious career woman striving to make a way into a male dominated field, and the feelings and emotions of two closely attached  biological sisters. The writing is deeply moving and has beautiful, vivid descriptions.  The novel begins  with  and revolves around Caroline, based on a real socialite and employee of the French Consulate in New York City, who is not just “doing her part for the war effort,” but is dedicated to making a difference in people’s lives. The title comes from the lilacs planted at her Bethlehem, Connecticut, home, which today is a museum.  Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish teenager who is sent to the notorious Ravensbruck Labor Camp along with her doctor sister  because she has been caught smuggling messages to the resistance is the second Lilac girl. A brilliant German doctor, Herta Oberhauser, makes up the third of the trio as she works with the Nazis, operating on the “Rabbits,” of which Kasia and her sister are a part.

    One critic describes this fiction-based-on-fact novel as the story of “…unsung women and their quest for love, freedom, and second chances.” I loved the novel for its twists and turns in the plot, its excellently drawn characters, and the way it kept my interest through the final pages. I highly recommend this as a “darned good read.”

     

  • DRINKING COFFEE ELSEWHERE: A REVIEW

    ZZ Packer’s 2003 publication, a collection of short stories, is as important and enlightening today as the year it was published. It makes a good pick-up-and-put-down read as do most short story collections, but it has a quality about the writing that makes it special. In many of the stories “That Old-time Religion,” beloved by many of our grandparents and beloved still in many predominately African-American churches is presented through the author’s beautiful story-telling style. As Alex Hailey expressed in a quote from Roots, included in the book,

    “Join me in the hope that this story of our people can help to alleviate the legacies of the fact that preponderately the histories have been written by the winners.” The people in Packer’s stories are not losers; they are the over-commers. Some stories end happily, some sadly, but all are dealing with awakenings and the power they have over the individual, who, in turn, gains the power to overcome.  The stories teach us that prejudice comes in many forms; that loss of faith is a searing loss; that friendships and sisterhood can help us overcome almost anything; and that Civil Rights deal with everyone’s rights.

    Some of my favorite stories were “Speaking in Tongues”; “Doris is Coming,” which dealt with the predicted end of the world New Year’s Eve 1961 (I remember well that prediction.); and “The Rapture.”